Saturday, September 5, 2009

Triffids: BORN SANDY DEVOTIONAL

When I was vacationing in Australia last December, I picked up The Triffids greatest hits, Australian Melodrama. Great disc! Only one throwaway track. So when I saw eMusic offering Born Sandy Devotional (BSD), I downloaded it quicker than John Cook paved the way for European colonialism. Released in '86, BSD was ironically recorded in the UK, but Aussies embraced it like an INXS album. What's cool about BSD is that all ten tracks are awesome, with "Wide Open Road" (video) being the standout. Sadly, the theme is a bit of a downer -- unrequited love -- though, it's not obvious.

The reissue of BSD includes nine bonus tracks (read: demos). Most of them are for hardcore Trifidi fans only, with singer/songwriter David McComb either reciting poetry or singing while playing an electric guitar. However, two of them are fantastic and feature a full band. "Convent Walls" has a lovely melody and "Born Sandy Devotional" doesn't appear on the actual album, but it rocks, thanks to the drummer banging the hell out of the ride cymbal.